Information on Josephus

Emil Schürer writes: "The best known historian of Jewish affairs
in the Greek language is the Palestinian Josephus, properly Joseph, the son
of Matthias, a priest of Jerusalem. Of his two chief works one is, the Ιουδαικη Αρχαιολογια,
a comprehensive delineation of the entire Jewish history from the beginning
to his own times. It is the most extensive work on Jewish history in the Greek
language with which we are acquainted, and has on that account so retained the
lasting favour of Jewish, heathen and Christian readers, as to have been preserved
entire in numerous manuscripts. . . . Notwithstanding its great difference from
the philosophizing delineation of Philo, its tendency is similar. For it is
the purpose of Josephus, not only to instruct his heathen readers, for whom
it was in the first instance intended, in the history of his people, but also
to inspire them with respect for the Jewish nation, both as having a history
of hoary antiquity, and a long series of celebrities both in peace and war to
point to, and as able to bear comparison in respect of laws and institutions
with any nation (comp. especially Antt. xvi. 6. 8). The other chief work
of Josephus, the History of the Jewish War from A.D. 66-73, gives the
history more for its own sake. The events of these years are in themselves so
important, that they seemed worthy of a detailed description. Perhaps it was
written by command of Vespasian, from whom Josephus received an annual salary
(Vita, 76), and to whom the work was delivered as soon as it was completed
(contra Apion, i. 9; Vita, 65). If a tendency to boasting is detected
in it, this refers rather to the individual Josephus and the Romans than to
the Jewish nation." (The Literature of the Jewish People in the Time
of Jesus, pp. 221-222)

Martin McNamara writes: "All of Josephus' four extant works are important
sources for Jewish history and tradition. The first to be composed was The
Jewish Waran account of the war of the Jews against the Romans. Josephus
himself tells us that he wrote two versions of this. The first one was in his
own vernacular, i.e. Aramaic, and composed for 'the up-country barbarians',
i.e. the Aramaic-speaking Jews of the Parthian kingdom, especially those of
Babylon. This edition is lost. The extant Greek version is an adaptation by
Josephus himself of the Aramaic work. It was published about A.D. 78, when Josephus
was about 40 years old. The next work to be published was The Jewish Antiquities,
about sixteen years later (A.D. 94 or so). It appears that soon before the publication
of The Antiquities Justus of Tiberias had published his history of the
Jewish War, with serious accusation of misconduct during the war in Galilee
directed against Josephus. It is possible that Josephus' third and autobiographical
work, the Life, was published at the same time as the Antiquities
and as a reply to Justus. Some scholars, however, maintain that the Life
was published about A.D. 96, and may have appeared together with a second edition
of the Antiquities that appeared between A.D. 93/94 and 100. Josephus'
final extant work to be published was Against Apion, or to give its original
title, On the Antiquity of the Jews. In the first part of this work Josephus
sets out to refute the detractions and contentions of anti-Semitic writings.
In the course of doing so he excerpts from a large number of works no longer
extant. In the second part Josephus gives his positive defence of the Jewish
people, setting forth the inner value of Judaism and its superiority over Hellenism.
In this we have a rather full presentation of Jewish halakah as known to Josephus."
(Intertestamental Literature, p. 239)

James C. VanderKam writes: "After preparing the Galilee militarily, Josephus
led the fight in the north against the advancing Roman army under the command
of Vespasian. The Romans defeated Josephus' forces and he himself was eventually
captured by them. Josephus was brought before Vespasian and predicted that he
would become emperor. Vespasian kept him in custody until he was indeed declared
emperor by his troops in 69 CE in Egypt. At that point he released the prophetic
Josephus, and the future historian returned to Judea with Titus, Vespasian's
son, who now had the task of suppressing the revolt. At Titus's behest he would,
from time to time, try to convince the defenders of Jerusalem to surrender,
but to no avail; he was himself injured in the process (War 5.363-419)."
(An Introduction to Early Judaism, p. 143)

Raymond F. Surburg writes: "In evaluating the historical worthiness of
The Jewish War, it must not be forgotten that the Memoirs are
written from a Roman point of view. Furthermore, the fact that Josephus is writing
under imperial patronage tended to give the work a pro-Roman bias. A comparison
between The Jewish War and the Life does not present a consistent
portrayal of the Galilean campaign. Laquer, in Der juedische Historiker Flavius
Josephus suspects Josephus of deliberate misrepresentation of details so
that he might find favor with his other patron, King Agrippa II." (Introduction
to the Intertestamental Period, p. 165)